A deadline set by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is just days away, but lawmakers are still divided over how to rewrite the state’s second-degree murder sentencing laws. Prosecutors and victims’ advocates are urging action, while rehabilitation is also part of the conversation.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the state’s mandatory life-without-parole sentence for second-degree murder.<\/p>\n
“Many of these victims’ families had never signed up even for victim notifications, thinking that their loved one’s killer would never see the light of day,” said State Sen. Scott Martin (R, Lancaster).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0decision effects more than 1,100 people serving those sentences, and lawmakers have until Thursday to agree on a new system. Martin is urging the House to pass a Senate bill, which would create new sentencing guidelines and a parole process. The bill would set a 35-year minimum sentence for most second-degree murder convictions, with a possible 10-year minimum for those who can prove they had a limited role in the crime.<\/p>\n
“There’s the legitimate fear that the chaos that could be caused by this not being addressed could have long-term consequences,” he said.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Dave Sunday says many of the cases involve some of the most serious crimes in the state.<\/p>\n
“These are burglary, robbery, rape. These are cases that by themselves, even if no one was murdered, would carry some of the heaviest sentences in our criminal justice system,” he said.<\/p>\n
The debate, however, extends beyond punishment. The House is also considering House Bill 1042, which focuses more on rehabilitation, including education and restorative programs. State Representative Nikki Rivera (D, Lancaster), who supports House Bill 1042, said in a statement:<\/p>\n
“Effective corrections systems need to operate efficiently by not only rehabilitating the offender through restorative programs, but also by strengthening a core foundation of leading a successful life after release: education.”<\/p>\n
Victims’ advocates say whatever lawmakers decide, families need answers.<\/p>\n
“No matter how long ago the crime happened, I assure you these old wounds are reopened. They need to know that when the court case is over, when a defendant is sentenced, that that sentence will stand and they can finally close that chapter of their journey,” Deanna Weaver, director of victim and witness services in Lancaster County, said.<\/p>\n
With the July 24 deadline approaching, lawmakers are still searching for a compromise on the future of second-degree murder sentencing in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A deadline set by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is just days away, but lawmakers are still divided over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[23747,28,30,29,8109,19526,99138],"class_list":["post-249887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-lawmakers","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pennsylvania-supreme-court","tag-scott-martin","tag-sentencing-guidelines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}